Since January of 2008, this nationally recognized blog has been dedicated to following the very latest news regarding presidential pardons and the pardon power (or clemency powers) as exercised in each state. Reader comments are certainly welcomed but a premium will be placed on civility, relevance and originality. Please refrain from extended copying and pasting.

TERMS TO KNOW

AMNESTY - A general or group pardon that is usually granted before conviction. This power is most commonly associated with post-war clemency, for draft evasion, sedition or other violations of selective service laws. Amnesties may or may not be conditional

CLEMENCY - At the federal level, this is a broad term which is interpreted to include all of the other terms defined in this section. Sometimes, "clemency" is described as "the pardon power," which is acceptable, so long as it is understood that, formally speaking, a pardon is one of several forms of clemency. Clemency powers can be found in all three branches of the federal government (executive, legislative and judicial). At the state level, "clemency" is sometimes meant to be synonymous with "commutation." Thus "clemency" is used to release indivduals from prison. "Pardons" in such states are used to restore the civil rights of those who have already served their time.

COMMUTATION - A reduction in the severity of a punishment that is commonly confused with a pardon. Commutations reduce the length of a sentence or the amount of a fine. Perhaps the most high-profile commutations are those that change a death sentence to life in prison, or life in prison without the possibility of parole. Commutations can be controversial if the "reduction" is, arguably, not a reduction. Imagine a 2-year sentence being commuted to a $900,000 fine. Is that really a reduction in the severity of the punishment? Commutations can have conditions attached. Supreme Court decisions appear to suggest that commutations of sentence cannot be refused. Although there was a time when commutations were granted more frequently than pardons, they are very rarely granted today.

EXPUNGEMENT - Each state is free to define expungement as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of expungement. See also "sealing" (below)

PARDON - The removal of all disability or punishment. Pardons may be granted before or after conviction. Today, they are usually granted in order to restore civil rights (the right to vote, hold public office, participate in a jury, own a firearm, etc.). Pardons can have conditions attached. There has been a steady decline in the granting of pardons since 1900 whether one looks at the raw number of pardons, the percentage of applications that result in pardons or the percentage of presidential clemency decisions which result in pardons. There has, however, been a more accelerated decline since the late 1960s.

REMISSION - Most often, remissions were devices used to remove fines and forfeitures. In some instances, however, the word remit was used to simply remove (as opposed to reducing) a portion of a sentence. Today, federal clemency statistics do not even count remissions as a separate category of clemency decisions.

REPRIEVE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Sometimes used as a synonym for "stay." See Respite, below.

RESPITE - Delays the imposition of a punishment without reference to such issues as due process or the guilt or innocence of the accused. Typically, respites are granted for a specific number of days (30 to 60) but they have often been followed by additional respites and have also been granted in an entirely open-ended fashion (as in, "We will get back to you, when we can."). Today, the word "reprieve" is more likely to be used for an act of clemency that delays punishment.

SEALING - Each state is free to define sealing as it pleases, but, generally, it referes to a process whereby records pertaining to a case are removed from the view of the public. In some instances, the records do not completely "disappear," but are available to law enforcement. States also routinely exempt certain offenses from the possibility of sealing. See also "expungement" (above).

Tuesday, October 25, 2011

It is reported that Glenn Greenwald's new book, entitled, With Liberty and Justice for Some: How the Law Is Used to Destroy Equality and Protect the Powerful, argues:

the Nixon pardon set a precedent that ushered in an era of “elite immunity,” a two-tiered legal system that exempts the rich and powerful from the laws applied to other Americans. The legacy of the pardon, Greenwald writes, is that "the United States has become a nation that does not apply the rule of law to its elite class."

We certainly look forward to the data which support that claim, as well as these:

Nowadays, with only rare exceptions, each time top members of the nation’s political class are caught committing a crime, the same reasons are hauled out to get them off the hook.

And:

political and financial elites are now vested with virtually absolute immunity from the rule of law even when they are caught committing egregious crimes

We bet the supporting data in the accompanying chart (summarizing thousands upon thousands of cases) are going to be something to behold! I mean, no serious author would write such a thing, and certainly no serious press would publish it, without a world of impressive, systematic empirical evidence! No way this book is simply going to be laced with whining about a few highly publicized anecdotes that we all already know about!

Meanwhile, we are certain that criminal justice systems throughout the world, and throughout all of history, have had their built-in advantages for "elite classes." Ford's pardon of Nixon "ushered in" nothing. Greenwald claims:

[Ford] put a heroic spin on the betrayal of the rule of law: we end the “nightmare” of high-level criminality by sweeping it under the rug, protecting the wrongdoers, and pretending their crimes never happened.

Are you kidding? This is what counts as worthy of print? in a "new" book ??? Publishers please call my agent now !!! Greenwald's book must be really exciting stuff to read for those ignorant of Alexander Hamilton's mauling of George Washington's pardon of those found guilty of treason! Presidents in the 1800s pardoning bankers right and left? Charles W. Morse - never heard of him. Not even on Greenwald's screen. One can only wonder if his book bothers to note the manner in which the Nixon pardon contributed to a DECREASE in the use of the pardon power! See story here. See a sample from the book here.